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(No Model.)

W. P. OGONNOR. SHELF FOR BAKERS OVENS.

No. 587,398. Patented Aug. 8,1897.

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UNITED ST TES PATENT FFICE.

XVILLIAM P. OCONNOR, ()F CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO JAMES W. HAZEN, OF SAME PLACE.

SHELF FOR BAKE FFS OVENS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No. 587,398, dated August 3, 1897.

I Application filed March 23, 1897. Serial No. 628,903. (lrl'o model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM P. OCONNOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Shelves for Bakers Ovens, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in Which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a bakers oven having shelves embodying my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective View of one of the oven-shelveshavin g my improvement applied thereto. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 4 4c of Fig. 8.

In ordinary bakers mechanical ovens used for baking cakes it is customary to place the baking-pan which holds the cakes directly upon the surface of the shelf. When so placed, the heat is not uniformly applied to the cakes, being too great at the bottom and not sufficient at the top, and in order that the cakes may be of the proper color at the top it has been found necessary to bake them to such an extent that they become dry, and much loss of weight is caused by shrinkage. Furthermore, the heated air rising over the edges of the baking-pan on the shelf burns the end and side rows of cakes, rendering them unsalable and involving much waste and consequent loss.

My invention has for its object to overcome these difficulties; and it consists in the combination, with a bakers oven-shelf, of a supplementary sheet-metal plate for holding the baking-pan, said plate being mounted on a skeleton frame or support rising from the shelf, whereby a space is left for the free circulation of air between said shelf and supplementary plate, the latter being provided at its edges with flanges which deflect the upward currents of air and cause them to pass over the edges of the cakes at the sides and rear end of the pan instead of impinging directly thereon, thus protecting the same and preventing them from becoming burned or charred, as heretofore, while the heat is more uniformly and evenly distributed over the 'volves.

cakes, causing them to be evenly baked in a shorter space of time and without unnecessary shrinkage.

In the said drawings, A represents the baking-chamber of an ordinary bakers mechanical oven, and B the revolving reel, actuated, as usual,by suitable mechanism. (Not shown.)

represents the pan-holding shelves,which are hung, as usual, to swing between the reelarms I) in such manner as to maintain their horizontal position at all times as the reel re- Upon the upper surface of each of these shelves 0 is placed a skeleton frame D, preferably composed of posts a and horizontal bars cl, formed of angle-iron, upon which are placed a series of supplementary sheetiron plates G, adapted to hold the baking-pans H, containing the cakes or biscuits 6 to be baked, each of said plates G being preferably provided in front with a notch 10 to facilitate the withdrawal of the baking-pan. The plates G, which may be of any suitable size to correspond with that of the baking-pans used, are arranged upon the supporting-frame D, as shown in Fig. 3, at a short distance apart in order to allowthe hot air to pass up freely between them and over the cakes on each pan as required to produce good results. The sides and rear end of each plate G are turned up, forming edge flan ges f, which act as shields and serve to deflect the heated air as it rises and cause it to pass over the tops of the side and rear end rows of cakes on the baking-pan H, instead of impinging directly on the exposed edges of the same, as has heretofore been the case, and by this construction the side and end rows of cakes are thus protected and prevented from becoming burned or charred, and much waste and loss is thus avoided.

The baking-pans employed in ovens of this description where machinery is employed to place the cakes upon the pans must necessarily be made flat for the reason that if they were provided with raised sides like ordinary small baking-pans for domestic use it would not be practicable to feed them through the machines, and consequently much difficulty has been hitherto experienced from the burning of the cakes or biscuits of the outer rows, which is entirely avoided by the employment air beneath the plate G, thus equalizing the of a shelf provided with deflecting-shields constructed in accordance with my invention.

By placing the supplementary plate G upon a skeleton frame or support D, rising from the upper surface of the shelf 0, as described, a space is left for the free circulation of the heat above and below the same and causing the cakes to be baked with an even brown color and without undue shrinkage, desiderata hitherto unattained in anybakers ovenshelf with which I am acquainted.

Although I have shown and described my invention as applied to reel-ovens, it is obvious that it maybe used in connection with other varieties of bakers ovens where shelves are employed for holding the baking-pans.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isl 1. The combination with an oven-shelf, of a supplementary sheet-metal plate supported above the level of the upper surface of the shelf and spaced at its sides from the ends of the shelf to leave a space for the free circulation of air between said shelf and supplementary plate, the latter being provided at its edges with upturned flanges, forming shields for deflecting the hot air and preventing it from impinging on and burning the edges of the side and end rows of cakes or other articles on the baking-pan, substantially as described.

2. The combination with an oven-shelf, of a series of transverse pan-supporting plates supported above the level of the shelf with their edges spaced apart; the rear and side edges of said plates being provided with upwardly-projecting flanges, substantially as set forth.

\Vitness my hand this 19th day of March,

WILLIAM P. OCONNOR.

In presence of- P. E. TESCHEMACHER, B. L. MARDEN. 

